i GOT ONE: Jason Bateman is booed as he's escorted to the front of a line in LA to snag his iPhone. Non-celebs endured queues like this, at the 14th Street Apple store.Owen Beiny

There’s got to be an easier way to get a cellphone!

Hundreds of iPhone-hungry Apple fans endured searing heat and driving rain for hours yesterday, as they waited in lines that stretched blocks, to be among the first to get their hands on the new iPhone 4.

“It’s misery all around,” declared Patricia Sexton, 35, of Gramercy, who started standing in the line at the Apple store on Fifth Avenue and 59th Street at 8 a.m. She was still there at 1 p.m.

“I like it way more than the regular iPhone. It works great. I just got a call from my mom. It sounded good,” she said.

So many people showed up at the Fifth Avenue store that Apple workers handed out water to their would-be customers.

Even other businesses helped out. The Todd English Food Hall at the Plaza hotel handed out cookies, and a Porsche dealership handed out soda.

The line was so long that someone who was desperate to sit down paid Danielle Shire $60 for a $5 lawn chair she was using.

“It’s a crazy scene,” she said.

Katey Williams, 30, only had to wait in line for a half-hour because she pre-ordered her phone. She gave it a rave review after she got home and turned it on.

“I love it so far,” the Upper East Side woman said. “I’ve been playing with it all day. I talked on it, and it sounded great.

“The screen is really clear and bright. It was really easy to sync with my computer. It only took 20 minutes to download all my music and apps.

“Overall, it was pretty simple. It’s really great.”

The device caused similar commotions across the country — and some drama in Los Angeles, where actor Jason Bateman was booed after he was escorted to the front of the 2,000-person line by store personnel.

“Everyone literally started booing and hissing,” a source told US Weekly.